McGulpin Point Light

McGulpin Point Light

Location	Straits of Mackinac, Michigan
Coordinates	45°47′13″N 84°46′20″W / 45.78690°N 84.7722°W / 45.78690; -84.7722Coordinates: 45°47′13″N 84°46′20″W / 45.78690°N 84.7722°W / 45.78690; -84.7722
Year first constructed	1869
Year first lit	1869
Deactivated	1906
Construction	Cream City brick
Tower shape	Octagonal
Markings / pattern	natural
Height	38 feet (12 m)[1]
Focal height	102 feet (31 m)[2]
Original lens	3.5 order Fresnel lens
Current lens	Replaced
ARLHS number	USA-487[3][4]

McGulpin Point Light was constructed as a navigational aid through the Straits of Mackinac. The light began operation in 1869, making it one of the oldest surviving lighthouses in the Straits. The light is located on McGulpin Point, approximately 3 miles (4.8 km) west of Fort Michilimackinac.

History

Design and operation

The McGulpin Point Light, a true lighthouse with a light tower and attached lighthouse keeper's living quarters, was completed by the United States Lighthouse Board in 1869 at a cost of $20,000. The living quarters were built as a vernacular 1 ¹⁄₂-story brick structure. The lighthouse operated during the Great Lakes navigation seasons from 1869 until 1906.

The design was so successful that the Lighthouse Board chose to use this 1868 design in the construction of Eagle Harbor Light in 1871; White River Light in 1875; and Sand Island Light in 1881.^[5] It is a "mirror image of the design" used at Chambers Island Light and Eagle Bluff Light in the "Death's Door" area. The design is sometimes called "Norman Gothic" style^[6]

James Davenport was the only lighthouse keeper at this light, and served for 27 years.^[7] Correspondence files in the National Archives in Washington show that Davenport made weekly trips through the snow to the lighthouse to report on its condition to the District Inspector in Milwaukee. Perhaps more importantly, these letters also show that he may have played a critical role in the opening of navigation every spring by reporting weekly, and sometimes even more frequently, on ice conditions in the Straits. Because Davenport was the only Straits keeper to submit such frequent reports, it would appear that the Inspector used these reports to gain an understanding as to when navigation would be open throughout the lakes.

Preservation

In 1906, the McGulpin Point Light was deactivated and privatized due to the Lighthouse Board's judgment that the nearby Old Mackinac Point Light was performing an adequate job of marking the Straits of Mackinac.^[8] At some point after deactivation, the lighthouse tower's lantern room was removed, and the building passed into private ownership. The building then entered service as a private residence.^[9][10]

In 2005, the lighthouse and adjoining 11.5 acres (47,000 m²) were placed on the market for an asking price of $1.75 million by the Peppler family. In early 2008, the price was $974,900. In June 2008. the governing board of Emmet County voted to purchase the McGulpin Point Lighthouse and 11.5 acres (4.7 ha) of surrounding lakefront property, including 336 feet (102 m) of Lake Michigan footage, and some adjacent property for visitor parking, for $720,000.^[11][12]

The county also allocated $25,000 for signs, plaques, a flagpole, and promotional materials to advertise and announce the lighthouse as a new historic resource of the Straits of Mackinac region. With the assistance of the Great Lakes Lighthouse Keepers Association and private donors, Emmet County authorities had the vanished lantern room rebuilt so that the McGulpin Point Lighthouse could resume its function as a lighthouse. In April 2009, a "replica lantern room, fabricated by Moran Iron Works in Onaway, Michigan, was placed atop" the light, and a lantern was erected in the lantern room. The McGulpin Point Light was ceremonially relighted on May 30, 2009.^[13][14]

Approximately 1,200 celebrants attended the May 2009 festival and relighting ceremony. An invocation by Frank Ettawageshik, of the Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians, was followed by a "stirring performance by four Native American drummers." The official relighting was switched on by United States Senator Debbie Stabenow and James Tamlyn, Emmet County Board of Commissioners chairman.^[13][15]

Current status

As of 2009, the McGulpin Point Lighthouse was not yet listed on the National Register of Historic Places; nor was it listed on the state inventory.^[16]

As of 2009, the McGulpin lighthouse was staffed in summer by unpaid volunteers. No admission fee is charged, but donations are accepted. Admittance to the lighthouse and tower includes access to the original light tower and replica lantern room atop the original tower.

It was also possible as of 2009 to do a seaplane tour of the Mackinac Straits to see the lights in the area.^[17]

The 2009 McGulpin Point Light lantern, a single-flash white light with a duration of 3.0 seconds, can be seen by mariners in the Straits of Mackinac.

See also

• Lighthouses in the United States

References

Further reading

• Brisson, Steven C. (Mackinac State Historic Parks chief curator). Old Mackinac Point Lighthouse: A History & Pictorial Souvenir (1/29/2008).
• "A Tour of the Lights of the Straits." Michigan History 70 (Sep/Oct 1986), pp. 17–29.

External links

• Straits of Mackinac Lighthouses, New McGulpin's Point Lighthouse Museum
• Great Lakes Lightkeepers Association, McGulpin Point Scrapbook.
• Interactive map of Lights in Northern Lake Michigan, mapped by Google.
• Satellite view of McGulpin's Point by Google maps.

Lighthouses in Michigan
Northern Upper Peninsula	Au Sable Big Bay Point Copper Harbor Copper Harbor Front Range Crisp Point Eagle Harbor Eagle Harbor Range Lights Eagle River Fourteen Mile Point Grand Island East Channel Grand Island Harbor Rear Range Grand Island North Grand Marais Range Lights Granite Island Gull Rock Huron Island Isle Royale Manitou Island Marquette Breakwater Outer Marquette Harbor Mendota (Bete Grise) Munising Front Range Munising Rear Range Ontonagon Ontonagon Harbor West Breakwater Portage River (Jacobsville) Passage Island Rock Harbor Rock of Ages Sand Hills Sand Point Light (Baraga) St. Martin Island Stannard Rock Thunder Bay Island Whitefish Point
Southern Upper Peninsula	DeTour Reef Lansing Shoals Manistique East Breakwater Martin Reef Menominee Pier Minneapolis Shoal Naubinway Island Peninsula Point Poverty Island Sand Point Seul Choix Squaw Island St. Martin Island
St. Mary's River	Frying Pan Island Pipe Island Point Iroquois Round Island Light (St. Mary's River) Six Mile Point Range Rear Winter Point Range Front
Portage River/Ship Canal	Keweenaw Waterway Lower Entrance Keweenaw Waterway Upper Entrance Portage Lake Rouleau Point Range Front and Rear Lights
Straits of Mackinac	Bois Blanc McGulpin Point Old Mackinac Point Round Island Round Island Passage St. Helena Island
Western Lower Peninsula	Beaver Island Harbor Beaver Island Head Big Sable Point Cedar River Charlevoix Charlevoix South Pier Frankfort Frankfort South Range Grand Haven North Pierhead Grand Haven South Pierhead Entrance Grand Haven South Pierhead Inner Grand Traverse Grays Reef Holland Harbor Ile Aux Galets Little Sable Point Little Traverse Ludington Manistee Pierhead Manning Memorial Mission Point Mission Point (1933) Muskegon Breakwater Muskegon Pier North Manitou Shoal Pentwater North Pierhead Pentwater South Pierhead Point Betsie Portage Lake South Fox Island South Haven South Manitou Island St. Joseph North Pier Inner St. Joseph North Pier Outer South Manitou Island Waugoshance White River White Shoal
Eastern Lower Peninsula	Alpena Caseville Harbor Charity Island Cheboygan Crib Cheboygan River Front Range DeTour Reef Detroit River Fort Gratiot Forty Mile Point Fourteen Foot Shoal Gibraltar Gravelly Shoal Harbor Beach Lake St. Clair Mariners Memorial Middle Island Miller Memorial New Presque Isle Old Presque Isle Peche Island Rear Range Poe Reef Pointe aux Barques Port Austin Port Sanilac Saginaw Bay Saginaw River Rear Range Spectacle Reef St. Clair Flats Front and Rear Range Light Sturgeon Point Tawas Point Thunder Bay Island Tri-Centennial Light of Detroit William Livingstone Memorial Windmill Point
Historical (lost) lights	Au Sable North Pierhead Belle Isle Clinton River Ecorse Ecorse Range Rear Gibraltar Grassy Island Grassy Island North Channel Range Lights Grassy Island South Channel Range Lights Grosse Ile North Channel Range Lights Grosse Ile South Channel Range Lights Harwood Point East Range Front Kalamazoo River Mama Juda Mama Juda Range Front Manistee Main Middle Lake George Monroe Pier New Buffalo North Manitou Island Saginaw Bay Sand Beach North Entrance East Squaw Point St. Mary's River Lower Range Front Vidal Shoals Channel Range Front and Rear Lights Windmill Point Range Front and Rear Lights
Related	Lightship Huron List of lifesaving stations in Michigan